diff --git a/evennia/commands/default/system.py b/evennia/commands/default/system.py
index 0ace6592bf..66d66eefbe 100644
--- a/evennia/commands/default/system.py
+++ b/evennia/commands/default/system.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ from evennia.accounts.models import AccountDB
 from evennia.utils import logger, utils, gametime, create, search
 from evennia.utils.eveditor import EvEditor
 from evennia.utils.evtable import EvTable
-from evennia.utils.utils import crop, class_from_module, to_unicode
+from evennia.utils.utils import crop, class_from_module
 
 COMMAND_DEFAULT_CLASS = class_from_module(settings.COMMAND_DEFAULT_CLASS)
 
diff --git a/evennia/prototypes/spawner.py b/evennia/prototypes/spawner.py
index 2ab6be5ee9..d10c093cb4 100644
--- a/evennia/prototypes/spawner.py
+++ b/evennia/prototypes/spawner.py
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ def spawn(*prototypes, **kwargs):
     """
     # search string (=prototype_key) from input
     prototypes = [protlib.search_prototype(prot, require_single=True)[0] 
-                  if isinstance(prot, basestring) else prot 
+                  if isinstance(prot, str) else prot 
                   for prot in prototypes]
 
     # get available protparents
diff --git a/evennia/server/tests/test_amp_connection.py b/evennia/server/tests/test_amp_connection.py
index 955a959b74..7161ea72de 100644
--- a/evennia/server/tests/test_amp_connection.py
+++ b/evennia/server/tests/test_amp_connection.py
@@ -18,30 +18,29 @@ from evennia.utils import create
 from twisted.internet.base import DelayedCall
 DelayedCall.debug = True
 
+@patch("evennia.server.initial_setup.get_god_account",
+       MagicMock(return_value=create.account("TestAMPAccount", "test@test.com", "testpassword")))
 class _TestAMP(TwistedTestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         super(_TestAMP, self).setUp()
-        with patch("evennia.server.initial_setup.get_god_account") as mockgod:
-            self.account = create.account("TestAMPAccount", "test@test.com", "testpassword")
-            mockgod.return_value = self.account
-            self.server = server.Evennia(MagicMock())
-            self.server.sessions.data_in = MagicMock()
-            self.server.sessions.data_out = MagicMock()
-            self.amp_client_factory = amp_client.AMPClientFactory(self.server)
-            self.amp_client = self.amp_client_factory.buildProtocol("127.0.0.1")
-            self.session = MagicMock() # serversession.ServerSession()
-            self.session.sessid = 1
-            self.server.sessions[1] = self.session
+        self.server = server.Evennia(MagicMock())
+        self.server.sessions.data_in = MagicMock()
+        self.server.sessions.data_out = MagicMock()
+        self.amp_client_factory = amp_client.AMPClientFactory(self.server)
+        self.amp_client = self.amp_client_factory.buildProtocol("127.0.0.1")
+        self.session = MagicMock()  # serversession.ServerSession()
+        self.session.sessid = 1
+        self.server.sessions[1] = self.session
 
-            self.portal = portal.Portal(MagicMock())
-            self.portalsession = session.Session()
-            self.portalsession.sessid = 1
-            self.portal.sessions[1] = self.portalsession
-            self.portal.sessions.data_in = MagicMock()
-            self.portal.sessions.data_out = MagicMock()
-            self.amp_server_factory = amp_server.AMPServerFactory(self.portal)
-            self.amp_server = self.amp_server_factory.buildProtocol("127.0.0.1")
+        self.portal = portal.Portal(MagicMock())
+        self.portalsession = session.Session()
+        self.portalsession.sessid = 1
+        self.portal.sessions[1] = self.portalsession
+        self.portal.sessions.data_in = MagicMock()
+        self.portal.sessions.data_out = MagicMock()
+        self.amp_server_factory = amp_server.AMPServerFactory(self.portal)
+        self.amp_server = self.amp_server_factory.buildProtocol("127.0.0.1")
 
     def tearDown(self):
         self.account.delete()
diff --git a/evennia/utils/test_resources.py b/evennia/utils/test_resources.py
index e73d76daf8..a8abf8f7ee 100644
--- a/evennia/utils/test_resources.py
+++ b/evennia/utils/test_resources.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def unload_module(module):
     loaded once).
 
     """
-    if isinstance(module, basestring):
+    if isinstance(module, str):
         modulename = module
     elif hasattr(module, "__module__"):
         modulename = module.__module__